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Alumni panel talks about sustainability

On April 13, a group of four alumni with careers in sustainability talked with students and other community members about their professions and their trajectories after college. The panelists were Pietr van Loon ’88, Jeff Bower ’92, Molly MacLeod ’08 and Mary Westervelt, who receives an MBA from the Marlboro College Graduate School this year.

“My professional background was in marketing in the financial services sector,” said Mary, who now offers consulting services to support the growth of small businesses in the slow food and clean energy sectors. “I was excited to leave that arena and use my skills to support the greater good. I am now in much greater alignment with the life I’ve always intended to lead.”

Pietr, on the other hand, got his Marlboro degree in forestry and worked with another Marlboro alumnus as a consulting forester right out of college. He is now stewardship forester for the Vermont Land Trust. Molly is a PhD student in ecology and evolution at Rutgers University, where she is identifying patterns in plant-pollinator interaction networks to inform species conservation and restoration.

“Making a difference can be as big as passing legislation to as small as turning off a light switch,” said Jeff, who works with the nation’s largest solar power company to deploy commercial-scale systems for top retailers like Staples and Kohl’s. “There is room for everyone and everyone can have an impact.”

Through there many stories and perspectives, these alumni helped students see their way past obstacles they may encounter, and confirmed the recurring Marlboro wisdom of pursuing what they are passionate about.